ASK YOUR MOM how you came to be, and youll likely get a story that invariably starts with “your father and I loved each other so much” and ends with your mother all choked up, claiming “the day you were born was the best day of my life.” Its verbal mac and cheese; comfort food for your soul. It also might just be a well – rehearsed line of parental deception. Sometimes, the real story involves lots of alcohol, one giant “uh – oh” moment, and a shotgun wedding.

Subarus explanation of the new BRZs gestation sounds suspiciously motherly —the engineers wanted so, so badly to design a rear – wheel – drive sports car but for years couldnt make the financial work. Then, one day, big strong Toyota came along and offered its financial backing. Cuddling ensued and, before you knew it, the stork delivered a perfect little bundle of joy named “BRZ.” Isnt life delightful?For some people, there comes a day when they realize that their parents had been married only four months when they were born. A similar day of uncertainty will come for the BRZ the first time it looks through the Fuji Heavy Industries family photo album and notices that, right up through its entire development and until shortly before it was delivered to dealers, Subarus ads said that “Every Subaru comes standard with symmetrical all – wheel drive.” Whoops! Sorry, little buddy, the company line doesnt entirely check out.

Toyotas explanation strikes us as slightly more likely, but in the grand scheme of things, how this new sports car came to be is probably not as important as what it is. And what it is, as youve probably heard, is a reasonably priced, front – engine, rear – wheel – drive, two – plus – two sports car with a normally aspirated four – cylinder engine of modest power. It was developed with a sharp focus on light weight, an extremely low center of gravity, and a low polar moment of inertia. In English, that means the BRZ is all about handling —so much so that its development target was the Porsche Cayman.

The BRZ is considerably smaller than you might think —its nearly six inches shorter than its two – seat Porsche bogey —but it still boasts a reasonably sized passenger compartment with fold – down back seats that can actually fit small humans or, as Subaru helpfully points out, a full set of racing tires. The dimension that really suffers is trunk space, but from the comfortable and very supportive drivers seat, the Subarus cabin feels open and airy, with vast headroom, and is filled with unexpected toys like a standard navigation system and dual – zone automatic climate control. The tilting – and – telescoping steering wheel doesnt quite extend far enough for long – legged drivers, and the pedals are spaced a bit widely for easy heel – and – toe operation, but the Porsche – style central tachometer and overlapping gauges convey this cars purpose quite clearly.

Much of the BRZs running gear consists of modified off – the – shelf Impreza parts, including the suspension. The Aisin – sourced six – speed transmissions are similar to existing units, but Subaru claims that 80 percent of the manual gearbox has been modified to improve shift feel, and the shifters high – effort, short – throw action is indeed impressive. A strange side note: the automatics gated shifter is heavy and tight and even better —maybe even the best in the business. The transmission itself, whether left to its own devices or following requests given via steering – wheel – mounted paddles, works well, but an automatic in a drivers car is a setup we arent really down with. And talking about an automatics shifter feel just seems weird.

Speaking of weird, the BRZ is the first – ever front – engine, rear – wheel – drive Subaru, but the company didnt set out to build a rear – wheel – drive car. The engineers say that the lofty handling targets came first, and the only way to achieve them was to locate the en – gine so far rearward that it precluded all – wheel drive. The engine also needed to be smaller, so rather than use the Imprezas brand – new 2.0 – liter flat four, Subaru developed a second, all – new 2.0 – liter four with substantially smaller external dimensions. The BRZs 200 – hp FA20 sits some ten inches farther back than the 148 – hp FB20 does in the Impreza, and the two engines dont share any major parts or even have similar bore – and – stroke measurements. Using Toyotas D – 4S direct – injection system, first seen in the Lexus IS, allows a far higher compression ratio.

The engines 7450 – rpm redline seems high until you notice that it produces 100 hp per liter. Other normally aspirated four – cylinders have cleared that specific – output hurdle by revving higher and being high – strung and peaky. Not this one —the horizontally opposed layout naturally lends it a more mellow sound and better balance than in – line fours, and pure sports car.

Indeed, the BRZs torque and horsepower peaks might be the closest of any engine in production today —it produces peak torque from 6400 to 6600 rpm, and peak power is available only 400 rpm later. As a corollary, youd assume that this engine would be dead in the low end, but its torque curve is nearly as flat as an electric motors, producing more than 90 percent of peak torque from just over 2000 rpm until the rev limiter hits. The engines modest but unrelenting pull and lack of in – line – four harshness are reminiscent of the rotary unit in the Mazda RX – 8.

When you push the BRZ into corners, the resemblance to the RX – 8 becomes even stronger. Subaru might keep mentioning the Cayman as the bogey, but we bet if you could somehow conduct a DNA test on the BRZs handling, it would show an undeniable link to that Mazda. Like the RX – 8, the BRZ is impossibly light on its feet, with instantaneous turn – in, quick and accurate steering, and a chassis that resolutely refuses to become unglued. It tackles corners with no drama, tremendous composure, and a forgiving nature. Subaru dialed in perhaps a little too much steady – state un – dersteer, but thanks to the standard Torsen limited – slip differential, its easy to nix with big, long applications of the right pedal.

The Porsches handling repertoire is far more complex —accomplished drivers can use an entire tool bag full of tricks to change the Caymans handling attitude, while the BRZ shrugs them all off with understeer. Still, we dont doubt Subarus claim that the BRZ can deliver impressive cornering numbers. Before everyone starts asking about a turbo, we should remind you that the original Porsche Boxster debuted with 201 hp and weighed in at 2750 pounds —numbers nearly identical to the BRZs. The BRZ doesnt need a turbo —its not a car that will be seeking out quarter – mile tracks.

Subaru itself might be left seeking a new kind of buyer. With an estimated base price right around that of the much faster, more practical, all – wheel – drive Impreza WRX, the BRZ probably wont make much sense to traditional Subaru customers. The BRZs Scion twin wont be available with HID headlights or heated leather seats, though, so some of those customers might saunter over to the Subaru dealership. And fans of the recently departed RX – 8 will certainly appreciate the BRZs handling, but dont be surprised if you see a bunch of rear – wheel – drive coupes sitting in Subaru dealerships side – by – side with various all – wheel – drive four – doors, wondering how, exactly, they wound up there in the first place.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH

Scion FR – S

Toyotas version of the Subaru BRZ.

5 – mile road course tucked into the rural, hilly terrain of Chiba Prefecture, across Tokyo Bay from Tokyo, to drive pre – production prototypes of the Scion FR – S, the Subaru BRZs twin. The FR – S moved fluidly among Sodegauras tightest corners; Scion FR – S chief engineer Tetsuya Tada —who was a rally driver in a mid – 1980s Toyota Corolla GT – S in his youth and spent ten years as a chassis control engineer at Toyota before developing the first – generation Scion xB —says that his goal in tuning the FR – S was agility, whereas Subaru focused more on stability. “At about the same time, Toyoda family patriarch Akio Toyoda, who is now president, asked the question many enthusiasts had been asking: “Where is the passion in our lineup?” TMC established

It seems that Subaru was having a hard time coming to grips with the thought of a rear – wheel – drive car, since its entire brand identity is predicated on all – wheel drive, and walked away from the table. That prototype both surprised and amazed Toyota, which apparently didnt have high expectations for what Subaru would achieve;